God's Timing

Wow - it's March already.  Where did February go?

We continue to trust God and work towards moving this summer.  We don't have jobs and we have 2 houses to sell but we are believing that God will work this out.

As I've meditated over this situation, I have two trains of thought and I'm not sure which one makes the most sense.  And by that, I mean spiritual sense because from my human perspective nothing we are doing makes sense.

Thought number one - Perhaps we are trying to rush God's timing.  As I think about the story of Abraham and Sarah, that's what they did.  They wanted a child and God promised Abraham that he would have descendents.  They didn't wait on God's timing.  If you remember the story, Sarah and Abraham tried to find their own way to fulfill God's covenant (Genesis 15).  It was Sarah's idea to give Hagar to Abraham in order to have a child.  Abraham agreed.  They were both wrong.  It wasn't until many years later that Sarah gave birth to Isaac.  Isaac was God's plan all along.  It was through Isaac that God was going to fulfill his promises.  God's timing is always perfect and isn't always in line with our timing.

Thought number two - Perhaps we need to just give up everything and move and trust God to provide.  Giving up good jobs in this economy seems really stupid from a human perspective.  Are we having enough faith in God if we have an alternative plan?  If I hold on to my job here (just in case things don't work out), does that show a lack of trust and faith.  I think God wants us to use the brains he gave us but does that show a lack of dependence on Him.  He wants us to trust him but where is the line between trust and common sense.  This one I am really struggling with.

Beth is going to college in PA.  That fact is established.  I want to move in order to be near our family.  We've wanted this for 25 years.  Is the time right?  Is it God's timing?  How do we know?  How do we balance waiting for God's timing and stepping out in faith believing God will provide.

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Lent

Today is the first day of the Easter season.  It is commonly known of as Lent.  It is the 40 day period that leads up to the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

As you proceed through the next 40 days, think about why Jesus choose to die for you.  He made a conscious choice to allow himself to be crucified.  After all, He is part of the Godhead.  He could have stopped it all, had he chosen to.  He allowed it to happen because He loves you.  In God’s eyes, we are seen as holy and blameless.  We are seen as without sin because our sin was paid for by Christ.  What an amazing life changing idea!  The sinless son of God, willingly allowed himself to be crucified because He loved me.

Begin to recognize how much God values you.  You are important to him.  You are a child of the living God.  Do you know that?  Do you live like that?  Are you walking with confidence and humility that you have been bought with a price, that your life has been redeemed, and that you are someone special in God’s eyes.

Suicide

You might be wondering why this topic.  I have a young man who works for me who is dealing with a good friend’s death.  It is a very disturbing thing to have someone you are close to take his own life.  Why would he do this? He was a Christian. 

Depression is a terrible thing.  It can lead a person to do something he wouldn’t normally do.  The devil is a deceiver.  He is the author of lies and he can lead a person to believe those lies; to believe that life isn’t worth living;  to believe that you have no worth; to believe that nothing is worth living for.

As a Christian I believe that God should decide when a person dies.  Killing yourself is equivalent to self-murder.  However, it has nothing to do with whether a person gets into heaven.  Your entrance into heaven depends only on whether or not you’ve trusted Jesus as your Savior.  Nothing can separate a Christian from God’s love (Romans 8:38-39)  Not even suicide.

I believe that life is a gift from God and should be lived to its fullest.  To take one’s own life would be to show ingratitude to the God who created you.  Job suffered greatly and he never ceased praising God. My life belongs to God and I am but a steward of it.  Suicide would be a rejection of the goodness and sovereignty of God.  Even when I am going through hard times, I need to remember that God is in control.  Nothing I am going through takes God by surprise.  If I let him, he can cause all things to work for my good. 

So how do I comfort the young man who works for me.  He has just lost a good friend.  He is a little freaked out by the whole situation.  I really need guidance in how to help him in his grief.

Anyone have any thoughts …

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Do I have enough courage?

This is something I have been thinking about for almost a year – ever since my daughter went to Honduras.  I had no idea what she was going to experience while she was there and it was a good thing I didn’t know.  I may not have been as supportive had I known that she was going to be going places with armed guards.

As parents we want to protect our children.  In fact, I contend that we overprotect them.  We have been told that real Christians are blessed materially, have automatic protection from God, and are always safe.  Our young people today don’t believe this.  They are not searching for safety.  They are not nearly as interested in materialistic things as their parents.  They are seeking to use their lives to make an impact.  They are aching for a life that has meaning and not just things. 

As a parent, I want my child to live a long happy secure life.  I’m not looking for her to take risks.  However, that is not necessarily how God is leading her. 

Matthew 16:25 says “For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.”  As a parent, am I able to embrace this truth for my child.  Do I trust God with her care?

I have a biblical responsibility to nurture my child, to bring her up in a godly and safe environment. However, my fear about her safety is not an excuse for not preparing her to be used by God and it is not an excuse for not letting her go in the direction that she feels God is leading her.

It is my responsibility as her parent to pray for her.  I need to pray for her safety. John 17:15 says “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.”  Do I have the courage to pray this for my child? Do I really want her “in the world”?  Or, do I secretively just want her removed from all possibility of danger?

What if God is preparing her for great adventures in His name?  What if she feels called fulltime to missions – am I prepared for that?  Is my preoccupation with her safety interfering with what God might be calling her to do?  Am I willing to stand by her and support her in all God has planned for her?

My daughter is preparing for her third mission trip this spring.  She will be spending a week in Guatemala.  I am praying that God will keep the group safe and allow them to complete the tasks that lay before them.  I am also praying that God will use this time in my child’s life to draw her into a closer relationship with Him.  I want her to seek God’s will for her life and then have the courage to follow Him in it.  That’s a tough prayer for me to pray … Do I have the courage to pray for that and to let go and let God work in her life?

 

The Long and Winding Road

I wrote yesterday about looking back on my life and seeing stepping stones. Seeing all the places God has led me in order for me to get the experiences I needed to be effective in the position I am in today.  God has always been faithful to lead me and provide for me.

What struck me today was the idea that the path has not always been straight.  Sometimes it seems like it was three steps forward and two steps back.  Sometimes the road was very crooked and wound around.  Sometime I took the long way to get where God wanted me to be.  Sometimes the path got rocky but that just caused me to trust God more.  The main idea here is that you have to keep your eye on God and trust that He knows what is best for you.

Habakkuk 3:19  “The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights.”

Isaiah 40:31  “those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

Psalm 37:23 “The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.”

Stepping Stones

There have been many times in my life when I’ve been able to look back and see God’s hand on my life.  I’ve been able to see how God led me to different jobs and how each one was needed to move me to the next one.  It is easy to see the stepping stones looking back.

I am now at a time in my life where I don’t know where God is leading me.  I know that my family is packing up everything we have and moving to rural PA when school is out.  I know that I must immediately have a job.  I know that my husband must immediately have a job.  I know that I have a condo and a house to sell in GA before I can think about buying a house in PA.  I know that my daughter is starting college in PA in the fall.

What I don’t know is how it is all going to work out.  As I look forward there are no stepping stones in sight.  I am sticking out my foot and taking a step in faith that there will be stone under my foot when I set it down.

I am confident that the Lord knows what is going on.  I am confident that he will provide for my family.  I know that God loves me and wants the best for me and my family.  I am confident that God is leading and directing us in this journey.

“For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”  Jeremiah 29:11

We are committed to living our lives in a way that would please God.  We walk by faith in Christ.  2 Corinthians 5:7 

Proverbs 3:5-6  
“ Trust in the LORD with all your heart
And do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He will make your paths straight. “

Trusting is hard.  I want to see the stepping stones laid out in a path in front of me.

Show me your ways, O Lord; teach me Your paths   (Ps 25:4).
Direct my steps by Your Word  (Ps 119:136).
I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;   (Ps 32:8).
God's word is the lamp unto your feet and a light to your path   (Ps 119:105)

Be Afraid but Don’t Live in Fear

 

Hmm.  With a title like this you are probably thinking I am crazy.  In the words of Lucille Ball, “Let me explain.”

I think Christians have lost sight of the idea that God is holy and that he cannot and will not tolerate sin.   We live with the philosophy that we can do anything we want and just confess it later.  We don’t have a healthy fear of God.   In Deuteronomy 5:29 God tells us to fear Him and to keep his commandments.  The relationship that you entered with God when accepted Christ as your Savior should be one of love but also one of obedience, reverence and fear.

Psalm 19:9 “The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever.”

Psalm 33:18 “But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him”

Psalm 34:7-11 “The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them. Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. Fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him lack nothing. The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing. Come, my children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord.”

I could list a lot more verses like those above.  It seems very apparent to me that Christians have lost sight of the power of God, the holiness of God, and the idea that God is to be feared.

I know that some of you are thinking that this was just for the Old Testament people and not for today.  After all doesn’t Jesus love me?  Shouldn’t that remove the fear I have?  The writers of the New Testament continue the theme of fearing God.

Acts 9:31 “Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace. It was strengthened; and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it grew in numbers, living in the fear of the Lord.”

Acts 10:34-35  “Then Peter began to speak: "I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right.”

Paul writes this in 2 Corinthians 5:11  “Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience.”

In Philippians, Paul tells us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling.

I’m afraid that today’s Christians do not fear God.  They do not fear Jesus.  They do not fear the Holy Spirit.  They come to Jesus for what He can do for them.  They come for what they can get out of it.  It is a need-based relationship.  That kind of gospel will attract lots of people but it will not transform their lives.  It is not until people realize the holiness of God and their need to fear and reverence him that their lives change.

Now let me balance that with a few other ideas. I don’t think God wants us to live in fear of the future or of others.

Deuteronomy 31:6  “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”

We conquer fear in our lives with the Word of God.  When the devil tempted Jesus, Jesus simply quoted scripture. 

Hebrews 4:2 “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword”

Psalm 27:1 “The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?”

Let me wind this up by saying, study who God is.  Understand his character and his attributes.  When you begin to understand who God is, you can’t help but fear Him.  In that fear, you will also develop a great love for Him.  In his perfection and holiness, He loves us – his fallen creation.  How He can love someone like me is something I will never understand.  I live by faith in the God.  I love him and I trust him to go before me and to take care of me.  However, I must never lose sight of his holiness and his character and that demands my obedience and worship.